2. V'yanjan/s (Consonants)
These v'yanjan/s (व्यंजन) are logically arranged into the following groups.
A. Sparsh
B. Antaḥsth
C. Uṣhm
A. Sparsh (स्पर्श)
"Sparsh" means "touch."
When speaking:
- Vibrations occur in the vocal cord as air passes through the mouth (and nose).
- The tongue and lips move, particularly when pronouncing consonants.
In the ĐevaNāgarī script, most consonants are logically arranged according to their place of articulation — where and how the speech organs (tongue, lips, etc.) come into contact with or approach each other.
These consonants are grouped into five sequences. Each sequence contains five consonants. The five sequences share a common phonetic pattern. In each sequence, the first and second consonants form one pair, while the third and fourth form another pair. The last consonant of each sequence is a nasal consonant. In the first two sequences, the last consonant can be considered the nasal counterpart of the third consonant.
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B. Antaḥsth (Intermediate Consonants and Semivowels)
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This is the 'middle' set. Antaḥstha (अन्तःस्थ) literally means 'standing within' or 'standing in between'. The semivowels 'ya' (य) and 'va' (व) were/are considered consonants.
C. Uṣhm (Sibilants and Glottal)
'Uṣhm' (उष्म) means 'heat' or 'warmth'. The three sibilants — sha (श), ṣha (ष) and sa (स) — are 'fricatives'. Isn't it interesting that independently developed terminologies resulted in related ideas — 'friction' and 'heat'? Ha (ह) is a glottal consonant and is therefore not a sibilant.
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![[sibilant]](https://www.hindi.co/naagaree/varNN/sibilant.gif) |
![[glottal]](https://www.hindi.co/naagaree/varNN/glottal.gif)
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There are two retroflex flaps, or simply 'retroflex consonants', used in Hinđī - 'ड़' (ḍa) and 'ढ़' (ḍha). In Sanskṛiŧ and Marāthī, 'ळ' (ḍ`a) is used in some words where Hinđī uses 'ड़' (ḍa).
Five other commonly used nuktā consonants in Hinđī are: 'ज़' (Za), 'फ़' (Fa), 'ग़' (Ga), 'ख़' (Kha) and 'क़' (Qa).
>> Click here to read about māŧrā/s...
* Do not pronounce these ĐevaNāgarī consonants according to the usual English pronunciation of their transliterations.
** Non-native speakers may require considerable practice to pronounce these consonants correctly.
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